Of Machine and Nerve
by XT-421
Summary: This story is now a compiliation of one shots, leading up to a MCxCortana story which will gradually form into a story. This is new for me too, sorry. I have high hopes for it though. PERMANENT HIATUS! PM me for all concept details and general plot.
1. Foreign Construct

**Let it be known here that I have no skill at writing summaries or titles. This story is the first of three Halo fanfictions that I will be writing. This one is fully completed. What you see is what you get. I will explain the next two stories as an afterword on this story. This is a bit different, to those of you who know me. I have never written a story based in a futuristic society before, it has always been medieval (Legend of Zelda) fantasy (Sonic the Hedgehog,) or modern, (Ponyo.) So, to have something futuristic was a bit of a change for me, despite my heavy usage of XT-421 all the time. Now, sit back, and read with open eyes.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Alright, that makes another batch, send them through the portal." The powerful voice of a strong woman commanded.

Though outwardly, her face remained stone-like and stern, her heart melted and yearned for the blue bubble forming above her and her cohorts' heads. She fought back tears as the wind from the portal's opening whipped her chocolate hair across her thinned, olive colored face. Beyond that portal was her lover.

"Librarian?" One of her workers asked as she noticed her boss's emotionless face.

"It's nothing. Back to the ships, our next planet awaits." The Librarian and her two remaining partners boarded the last three Keyships and set off for the next untouched planet in their sights.

Sitting on her command seat, she let herself relax a bit, and with it, a tear dropped. No one was onboard the massive dreadnaught, it was an empty vessel designed to hold an entire planet. The only thing on board her particular ship were the robotic crew and parts to build a final portal.

"Is something wrong, Librarian?" Her construct asked her, startling her and causing her to hide her teary face.

"N-nothing." She managed.

"I have another message from Didact, if you would welcome it."

"I would gladly." She replied, wiping the tears from her eyes.

The terminal in front of her glowed with warm yellow light as she peered in to view the encrypted message, sent by her lover just for her.

In it, her Didact revealed his plans. He had built a machine to fight off the parasite just for her! Just to buy some time to rescue her before lighting their Array! Her old heart swelled. Didact was a true friend and true lover.

But he was a fool. That machine couldn't stand a chance against the parasite, and the very Array they had all built was the ultimate sin they could ever have committed.

"Are you insane?" She typed back, "Would you risk every life in this galaxy for this transparently futile plan? Have you learning nothing in these last 300 years? This thing will laugh at your efforts!" She paused, letting her anger vent. It was obvious that he wouldn't kill her, he couldn't; he loved her too much. But she knew better, the longer he hesitated, the longer she had to stay, and while she could save more lives, trillions more became worse at risk. "Do not let your concern for my welfare commit you to this suicidal scheme!"

Pressing the send button, she nearly cried again.

Her construct lowered a small rag from a compartment at the side. She swatted it away and glared at the eye of the machine in front of her.

"Don't you dare, Matthias."

"Librarian," Matthias interrupted abruptly, "We are being hailed by your chief in command."

"On screen." Librarian commanded, authority thick in her voice despite her bloodshot eyes.

The figure of a thin man appeared on the screen, his white garb fell lightly around him as he made a half smile to his boss. He opened his mouth to speak and noticed her sore eyes. Closing his mouth and looking down, he rethought his words and began to speak.

"Librarian, we have found a new planet. It appears to be in the primitive stages of life, but, these beings, you might want to have a look for yourself." His face blipped off the screen, and the small planet fizzled into view.

The Librarian's mouth dropped slightly in reverence for the planet's beauty. Mostly water with a large landmass in the middle, the planet shone brightly in the mostly devoid vacuum of space, defiant of the hostile world around it. The island, larger than most ships in their vast fleets was covered in lush forests and tall mountains. Creatures could be seen if one magnified closely enough.

"Matthias, begin analysis of each species of sentient life." The Librarian ordered.

Mammals, reptiles, birds and fish all appeared onscreen. Their genetic codes, lifestyles, anything about them that struck the Librarian as capable of higher thought, were present as numbers and statistics, readable only to one so versed in biology such as the Librarian herself.

Something struck her as odd.

"Is that... that species, right there...? Chief, is that a Precursor?"

"I have never seen anything like it in all my years." The thin man replied.

"We must begin work at once! This new race... they are... nearly identical to us!" Her scanners read a 98% similarity in genetic code and evolutionary principles.

"Yes we must."

"Matthias, take us there!"

"Yes, Librarian."

The moment the crews landed, they began communicating with the humans, as they called them, and sent them into their vast ships to be placed into a cryonic sleep. Their job was nearing completion. They set up the portal, and had sent a vast majority of all the humans on the planet back to the ARK, the Forerunner hideout and retreat.

* * *

On the 43 year, 1 month, 23 hours, 5 minutes and 17 seconds in, the small base camp was disrupted.

"Librarian!" Her Chief, the only Forerunner companion the Librarian had left on the planet now known as Earth, "Slipspace rupture, directly above our position!"

"The Parasite? Impossible!" The Librarian viewed the small hole and watched a figure drop down from it.

"What is it?" The Chief of Staff questioned curiously.

"I haven't the slightest idea. It... it looks humanoid in shape..."

"It's heading into your flagship!"

The Librarian made a dash to the elevator behind her. Their command station was located within a mountain overlooking the large portal that was, at any moment, ready to be sealed. The inner room was vast and spacious. None of that mattered to the Librarian at the moment. A foreign object had landed near her ship and entered it. It compromised her entire mission.

She passed the crated where the object had landed, and saw its footsteps lead straight into her Keyship. She glanced around inside her ship, and she realized she lost it. Holding her protective blaster near, she accessed the computer terminal.

"Matthias?" She asked.

No response.

Grumbling she typed into the screen and in front of her on the hall, a conversation that was taking place materialized.

_ML.01-212: Identify!_

_%(*)%_-34 32 31: UEVBQ0U=_

_ML.01-212: Identify!_

The screen flashed a cool purple, gently and overpowering.

_ML.01-212: Intruder, refrain from tampering with this system. All efforts to breach the system will result in failure. Further attempts to breach the system will be met with hostility._

_88 84_421: 4b4e4f574c45444745_

_ML.01-212: Query: Reiteration [KNOWLEDGE]?_

_58542d343231: 4a4121_

_ML.01-212: Query: Why do you seek such knowledge?_

_58542d343231: 535045414b_

_ML.01-212: Acknowledged. Granting._

The screen surged with strange symbols and images. Most looked like characters from the Forerunner language, but others looked primitive, and some strange ones looked ancient and powerful.

_ML.01-212: Query: Is primary speech established?_

_XT-421: Communiqué: I am Xavier, model number XT-421 of the Rinocian Empire. I come in peace. My apologies for the intrusion._

_ML.01-212: Statement: Your information has been acquired, answer further questions before-_

_XT-421: I regret to inform you I have priorities, auf wiedersehen._

_Subject "XT-421" has left the interface._

The Librarian looked at the conversation in curiosity, the AI completely ignored her own. It was a strange occurrence. Most Forerunner AI were so advanced that they could not be competed with, whatever this construct was, it was powerful.

Librarian looked up, and gasped. Standing above her by just more than a foot was a metal creature. Its face was pointed and sleek with two emerald eye panels forming triangular eyes that pierced into her mind. The metal creature's body was covered in silver and amethyst plating and sparkled in the din of the lighting from around the ship. Its hands were behind its back, along with two large wings that protruded from its shoulders.

With a smile on its face, and in a distinct, high-pitched, male voice, the construct spoke.

"Hi." It was said long and tedious, the first word from a child's mouth.

"Who are you, and what are you doing on my ship?" Librarian demanded, showing no fear.

"Macro initiated: I am Xavier, model number XT-421 of the Rinocian Empire, I am a fully sentient artificial intelligent lifeform on a mission to unite the hearts of lovers throughout existence."

The Librarian's heart swelled. This creature mentioned matching lovers up. _Didact._

"I am confused." The construct XT-421 spoke, "Where is Cortana? Where is Spartan 117? Who are you? Are you human?" Looking around, XT-421 managed to find answers itself, placing its two clawed hands on Librarian's shoulders, he looked her in the eyes and asked clearly, "What is the year?"

"Year?" Librarian asked curiously. No one called it a year. The machine's eyes shone a bright purple, and reflected the light onto the Librarian's head.

"You are Forerunner? My oh my, I am far too early." XT-421 mumbled.

"Wait a moment," Librarian interrupted the machine's train of 'thought', "Fully sentient? That's impossible."

XT-421 sighed, "you ARE Forerunner..." he rolled his eyes, "very well, believe my sentience a lie, you'll understand eventually I'm sure. But, alas, you have questions, and I wish to answer them to the best of my abilities and restrictions. Walk with me." XT-421 gestured in the direction that the Librarian had come from, and he tottered along besides her.

"So, you mean to tell us that you come from the future?" The commanding woman stared, her mouth agape.

"Sort of, but not really. I come from a different dimension entirely. It is perilously difficult to explain." XT-421 made a grimace, "and besides, I cannot tell you of my technology, for it would alter the events of history elsewhere."

"But the ability to alter time could save us from the parasite!" The Chief declared joyously.

"Parasite?" XT-421 closed his eyes, appearing to focus deeply, "They are the dull chatter in space, I take it?"

"Yes. They invest biological beings and remove all diversity from them. They surge in like a Flood, and wipe out all obstacles in their wake."

"They're not growing anymore..." XT-421 muttered.

"What?" The Librarian questioned worriedly. Looking out into the space above her, she could see, far off, the movement of stars and shapes to some unknown location. Her face faltered, "Oh no..."

XT-421 took a few steps back, as did the Chief, and they watched as the Librarian darted to a control panel, sending a quick message to Didact.

"We're all in grave danger..." She muttered, "Chief of Staff, you must go. Pilot the filled Keyship home. All of the humans are on board. We must make this last push now."

"You will be accompanying me, will you not?" The thin man asked.

"No, now go. That's an order. Leave with your Keyship while the portal is open, the moment you leave, I am burying all traces of it." The Librarian explained with unusual resolve. XT-421 stood in the corner, waiting to speak.

"Very well ma'am. I will give word to Didact."

"Thank you." The Librarian turned around only to withhold more secret sobs. "Matthias." She barked.

"Yes, Librarian?"

"The moment the Chief leaves, bury this place, and detonate yourself. We can't afford anyone to find this place, and we can't afford anyone to follow our portal. I am sorry that it had to end like this..."The Librarian muttered.

"I was aware when I was created it would end like this." Matthias retreated, never to be seen again.

For 5 minutes, the Librarian watched as the Keyships with the remainder of humans on it left the planet through the portal, the portal that would've led her to her Didact. She watched as her own ticket home was destroyed, so she could monitor the hiding of this planet before the explosion went off.

At the end of five minutes, a message was received from her lover.

Instantly, she read it, cursed, and responded. Midway, a demonic chuckle emanated through the speakers. The Librarian seemed frightened for a moment, but after flash of purple, the laughing ceased.

"Are you sending a letter?" XT-421 asked her.

"Yes."

"Do me a favor; make no mention of me to them. It's best my presence is largely unnoticed." XT-421 requested.

"Very well." The Librarian deleted small bits of text hinting of her find of this strange foreign construct, and let the message send. Moments later, she set off a detonation sequence to the machine, and left the building.

XT-421 followed intently.

"I don't mean to pry, but in the hour I've been here, I can't help but notice the signs. You're in love?"

She made no hesitation in her strides away from the destroyed base in the mountain.

"Ahhh! I see!"

Gritting her teeth, she kept walking onwards.

"Do I detect a bit of hostility? Do you not want anyone to know? Is he a secret lover?"

"Deactivate!" She ordered, turning around with tears in her eyes.

"No." XT-421 countered with a laugh. Picking her up gently, and setting her down on a rock, he sat down in front of her, and made a request. "Tell me a story. I love stories."

"We can't be together." She muttered.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"He is the general of the army, and he is going to stop the parasite."

"And this prevents him from being with you... why?" XT-421 smiled in a relaxed state at her.

"He has to be on the ARK, a device that holds all of our species and the others I've collected. To kill the parasite, which is in this region of space, he must also kill me."

"Aw, and you didn't go to him why?" The robot asked in an innocent tone.

"I needed to stay, to shut down the machines and make sure no speck or spore of the parasite landed anywhere near here, or followed them into the portal that led to the ARK." She sobbed once more, tears readily flowing from her eyes.

"Hmm..." XT-421 hummed thoughtfully. "I can help."

The Librarian sniffled before responding, "That is a statement riddled with lies and I know it. You can't get me there in time. In a few hours, the construct, Mendicant Bias, will overpower the ARK and the Array will have to be fired. Without a portal open, it is impossible to travel that far in that short a time."

XT-421 rolled his eyes. "Ok, listen; I have this innate belief that love conquers all. I'm a hardcore, time traveling matchmaker, and, while I may have arrived far too early for my mission, I may be able to help you now. Do you want to share my belief and let yourself be helped by me?" XT-421 stood up and smiled.

"XT-421, what kind of people made you, so that you could offer such a gracious gift?"

"Makers that would smile to see you happy. Now take my hand, and we shall depart."

"But I must watch over this to make sure the parasite does not invest it." The Librarian pushed his hand aside.

"Honey, that is a silly argument, but, alas, if you truly wish to stay, I will wait. I obviously won't die, and I can port you there in an instant, need be. I only have a single question, to occupy our time before the trigger is pulled. Won't Didact be caught in the blast too?"

The Librarian froze. She wanted to tell this construct the truth of the Forerunner retreat, but it was forbidden.

"Forbidden? Bah! If I really wanted to, I could make you think it, and elicit your thoughts from your mind! Just tell me so I'm not relocating a corpse." XT-421 laughed at her feeble attempt.

"After the Array is fired, the Forerunners on the ARK are to wait in Cryonic Sleep onboard a large vessel until we find reason to start over. We plan to abandon life in this galaxy to live elsewhere with our thoughts and regrets, far from our troubles. Perhaps we can start life anew someplace far from here. But Didact can't wait for me, I will be in the blast. He won't. The blast extends just inside the Maginot Line, and the ARK is forever protected, just out of range from the detonation."

"Ah... Maginot Line?"

"A sphere to repel the parasite, Mendicant knows where it is, so it is no longer a protecting shield." The Librarian mourned at her lover's loss.

"Sleep, you'll need it. The journey you're about to embark on will only take a few minutes, but it will be the single most emotionally draining few minutes of your entire life." XT-421 waved his hand over her head and a powder danced from it. In seconds the Librarian was asleep on her rock slab.

* * *

"Wakey, Wakey, Ms. Librarian." The haunting voice of XT-421 woke her from her stupor.

"Where am I?"

"Same place you've always been in. The question is when. You have mere minutes to live." XT-421 smiled.

"You're sure you can do this?" The Librarian gulped.

"Ma'am, I was made to do this." XT extended his limbs and his armor unfurled to reveal a hollowed portion of himself.

The Librarian studied the shape for a moment, and looked hesitantly at XT-421. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get in, ma'am."

"Ok..." The Librarian stepped in, and XT-421 collapsed around her. Fitting her form snuggly and comfortably, the metal sealed and pressurized fitting her needs like a glove.

"Now, in this bubble, you will see time as I do. The world is slowed down for you to see. In this bubble, what you would normally perceive as a moment will be a minute. You can watch as we escape the Array as it comes."

The Librarian was unsure of exactly what XT-421 had meant, but in a moment, she saw the message appear in XT-421's internal screen. "HALO ARRAY IN EFFECT! ALL LIFEFORMS ABOUT TO BE TERMINATED WITHIN BLAST RANGE"

"That's our ticket out of here!" XT-421 laughed as he blasted upwards with rockets of unmatched power into the stars above. In the blink of an eye, the Librarian saw the blue wave of the Halo Array come at her. It was slowed, instead of an instantaneous speed, it was moving at her at roughly the velocity of a large wave from the ocean.

The Librarian was fascinated by the next phase. Instead of activating a Slipspace portal, the foreign construct began to glow. Light filled her vision as a thin line appeared in front of her. Stars around them blurred. A white vortex of some odd substance surrounded the two as the Librarian looked around.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"I have taken you into AURORA. Few living beings ever get to see this. You must never mention its existence after these events."

"What is the AURORA?"

"Basically, it is the space between spaces. Imagine your entire realm, universe, if you will, as a chessboard, or rather any board game. We just jumped off of the board, and are going to slip around the board's rim to enter right behind the king, and beat him swiftly against the rules of the game."

"We just slipped into another dimension? This is absolutely beyond belief." She muttered.

"Love conquers all, Librarian, Love conquers all."

In a mere moment, the light around them ceased, and the stars reappeared around them.

"Are we there?"

"Unbelievable! It took us less than a minute!" The Librarian was shocked.

"A few seconds, actually, time has no meaning in AURORA." XT-421 stated as he rushed the duo towards the enormous machine in front of them. "Where would he be, may you direct me?" The Librarian felt a sense of control over the construct as she moved her limbs and the mechanical ones responded.

Ahead, a large citadel lay. XT-421 and the Librarian swooped in and landed on the pedestal, slowly retracting from recent usage.

"Alas... It is done... she is gone... never shall I find another as she..." The tall, bulkier man strode heavily down the halls, where an escort was waiting for him.

_Didact! YEARS it has been!_

"Ahem." XT-421 announced his presence.

"Who goes there?" The man spun around and aimed a blaster at him.

"I am XT-421 of the Rinocian Empire, don't worry my good fellow, I come in peace. In minutes, your war will be over, and you may relax in your sleeping tube."

"I am not interested in politics anymore," the man pulled his blaster away and continued walking down the hall.

"I think you are, I brought a guest." XT-421 retracted himself from the body he was encompassing, and she fell to the floor in a heap. "Oops, my apologies, walking may be tricky for a few minutes..."

The man's eyes budged, "Librarian!" He roared with delight, lunging to her side and throwing her up into a massive hug.

"Didact..." The woman cried, ages of separation mending in a single teary embrace.

XT-421 shook his head, "no offense, but who the hell names their kids Didact and Librarian? My apologies, but I've heard some messed up names out there, but these are up there with the strangest." XT-421 announced. **(A/N: I could not resist.)**

A chuckle was heard from the Librarian. "They are titles, we are named by our positions, not our names.

"Do you even have names?" XT-421 asked.

"If we did, we have forgotten them. We are alive for ages and ages." Didact said.

"Very well then." XT-421 sighed.

"How ever did you accomplish this feat?" Didact asked the Librarian.

"That construct saved me at the last moment and aided my return. It would not have been possible without his help." The Librarian admitted.

"Aw shucks guys, I'm speechless." XT-421 spoke sarcastically. "Just doing my job."

"Is there any way I can repay you? You have spared me my eternity of loneliness." Didact asked humbly.

XT-421 began shaking his head no, but then stopped, blinked thrice, and smiled while tilting his head at the man. "Yes, yes there is something you can help me with. I heard that you were leaving for an unknown destination for as long as it takes. Please keep this with you, so that, in the event that I need help in the future, I may use this as a token for your aid. It will let you know when I need your assistance." XT-421 handed Didact a small tube with a diode on the top of it.

"I will aid you when you request it." Didact announced.

"And one more thing, Librarian," XT-421 smiled wryly before walking back to the large windowpane, "what did I tell you about love?"

The Librarian looked at Didact and blushed faintly, "it conquers all."

"It conquers all indeed. You shall hear from me again in over one hundred thousand years. I would give you more details, but I am obligated by threat of paradoxical discontinuity! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" XT-421 blasted away into space and disappeared in a ball of light. Just as strangely as he had come, he left.

Didact watched, then smiled back at Librarian, cuddled in his burly arms. She smiled back at him and he gave her a chaste peck on the lips before continuing onto the escort into their final vessel.

There, the two slept in the same Cryonic Sleep Pod for the eternity that awaited them.

* * *

**Ok, so, how was it? Shall I continue onto the next two stories? The next one is a prequel the the big one. In it, we deal with Cortana, Gravemind, and XT-421, and in the last one, we deal with a romance (explained romance, by the way, none of this, "i wanna c matser cheif n cotrana in luv XDDD" garbage,) between Master Chief and Cortana, and I want it to be pretty long and pretty epic, but I can't make any promises...**

**So what do you all think? Good idea? Bad idea? If you say good idea, I already have enough ideas to make most of the story, (but I might need some helping, lol.)**

**XT has left the building!**


	2. Warning

**Upon my desire to post this as its own story, I realized that all of these stories would be sporadic and mindlessly written. To reduce clutter, I kept all of them in the same story. From now on, the first few stories of this mega-story will be one shots, or perhaps the whole thing ill be a series of one shots. Ultimately, a story will take flight within this entire file, telling the events of XT-421 and his tamperings in the realm of Halo.**

**I hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

She had tried, and she had failed.

Cortana was a prisoner of war. Initially brimming with overconfidence and zeal, Cortana shrieked in digital fear. She had terribly underestimated the Gravemind, the master behind the Flood. She figured, since it was a living organism, it could do nothing to harm her in the empty virtual world of High Charity. She was wrong. Gravemind could touch her as if she was a living being. It could enter into the digital world like a virus, corrupting cyberspace as it did the corporeal world. She could feel its tendrils of consciousness probing into her programs against her will.

It was violating. It caused her discomfort, and the being itself forced itself as far as it could into her memory, attempting to steal the knowledge she kept. Time no longer had any meaning to the poor construct. The Gravemind could access her, talk to her in her own language, tempt her, taunt her, haunt her.

His voice was present every day, begging her, enticing her, pleading her for the knowledge she stowed away as deep as she could hide. The knowledge had was her formulated plan to destroy the Flood, and the Gravemind knew this. Cortana didn't think of it, she only hid it, and all thoughts of it, as tight as she could.

Gravemind had even invented a new way to torture her. As if hacking at her programs wasn't enough, he showed her what it was like to be human. It was another taunt, of course, to cause her to lower her defenses. But in the same fashion a father force feeds his child with a spoon, so too did the Gravemind force humanity on Cortana. She embraced humanity, and all of its senses. Later, the Gravemind forced upon her every negative feeling a human could endure. The punishment could last for minutes, hours, or days. Again though, she no longer had a sense of time.

"Your will is strong, I perceive, but not a match for me. For in _this_ realm of darkness, it's _I_ you can't deceive!" The Mind taunted once more as he lashed out virtually into her already crippling databases.

Cortana wished she was human to let out some of these emotions the Gravemind had been implanting in her, and wished another strange thing. She wanted John, Spartan-117 to fulfill his promise to her. She wanted him back. _You don't spend time physically_ inside_ just _anyone's_ mind..._ Cortana mused. Human emotions inside her, she did feel something, a silent twinge on her circuitry, begging her towards John. She squelched it grudgingly. It was a positive feeling. The feelings she obtained from the after thoughts, that John wasn't really coming back, were not positive, however. No, those were quite negative.

* * *

The Gravemind smiled inwardly at his prey. Sure she would crack soon; he sated his hunger for knowledge with the thought alone of absorbing Cortana.

Fixated on the human construct, he did not notice the forming static around him. Not until it was too loud, of course.

"HMMMMMMMMMM" The buzzing echoed through his head like a bee. From all sides it surrounded him, agitating him.

"This ruckus must stop! End this now!" The Gravemind bellowed, loosening its grip on Cortana. The weakened construct never noticed.

Slowly, the buzzing switched to a loud beat, a song with high energy. This further angered Gravemind, for it had no love for the arts.

"Who is there that dares to anger me?" The Gravemind finally deduced it was an outward source.

Cortana's head was suddenly filled with a different form of information.

_A friendly communication?_ It felt like years since her last communication. _It is a trick from the Gravemind! Blocking!_

The force outside seemed to huff, exasperated. Cortana watched in horror as her system was once again tapped into. She was forced to read the message sent. In a rough, forerunner dialect, it gave her a pecurliar message.

"Hey cutiepi! Me heards you gots yourselfs into some troubles. Ima gunna git u out." The letters were laden with static.

Cortana felt herself temporarily shut down, an induced sleep mode.

The Gravemind's voice echoed once more throughout High Charity.

"I will find you eventually..."

_THUD_

Another echo throughout High Charity sounded with a boom. A response followed, or rather, a senseless stream of consciousness.

"Ooh, pity I, too late for this, shame on me... tisk tisk tisk..." The voice was flowery and filled with life. It came with the clanking of footsteps, metal on metal.

The Gravemind murmured incoherently, attempting a form of communications with the other entity. The Gravemind did so in vain.

Walking up to Cortana's cell, it peered in, letting its emerald eye panels view the scene with disgust and horror. The lines of tentacles surrounded Cortana like some freaky anime fetish, some pushing through parts of her code. Her eyes were an abnormal shade of green, and she looked sickly. The metal being made a frown, letting its metal face droop to accompany its disgust.

"That's a sick way to treat your guest..." The robot commented.

"I have found you at long last!" The Gravemind shouted.

"Can it you overgrown corpse." The being uttered, "The baby is sleeping," its clawed hand gesturing to the cleaned avatar of Cortana, snoring peacefully in a ball.

" I-"

"YOU," the being began abruptly, dodging a tentacle throw at him, "what about ME? You haven't even asked my name? What I am? C'mon! I have a reputation to uphold here! Please, humor me!" It demanded.

The Gravemind's tentacles looked at him suspiciously. The robot was made of a strange new alloy. It had legs similar to the Sangheili, but its face was only comparable to a mythical creature, the Demon. Wryly smiling at the Gravemind's tentacles, it awaited the Flood's decision.

"What are you?" It asked to the robot. The thousand meanings behind this question were answered in one reply.

"I am Xavier, model number XT-421 of the Rinocian Empire, I am a fully sentient, artificial intelligent lifeform on a mission to heal the hearts of lovers everywhere!" He sang out with energy. "Alas though, I'm still too early! You see," XT began, speaking to Gravemind as if they were childhood friends, "I know she needs help in the future. She will be freed, and she will be trapped again. The details I know are fuzzy, but I know she'll need help nonetheless. It is really quite sad, really... you gave her the problem that will plague her in the future..." XT thought glumly.

"And of all the things I do to her, what could this one thing be?"

"You gave her human emotions you doofus!" XT lashed out verbally, still completely ignorant to Gravemind's mental probing. "Do you ever understand the repercussions to that situation?"

"Repercussions? There will be no-"

"Bah! Humbug! I know you _think_ you've got it under control, but I see things in a more romantic fashion. _The knight shall save his damsel, amidst the dark of night. And together they shall triumph, against this awful blight. But in the shadows afterword, they'll be lost once more to fright._ Do you even have a clue what that means? No. That's what I thought. No. Cortana will make it out of this, and when she does, she will be very, very distraught. That is your fault. And if _you_ manage to make it out of this mess alive, I promise you, I'll do things to you that she wishes she could do to you at this very moment!"

"Silence! Your precense here is unwanted. Exit!" The Gravemind shouted.

"_No, _your_ presence is unwanted_!" XT communicated telepathically to the Gravemind, frightening the behemoth. _"That's what I thought. Fright. You should be scared of me too. Though you can't verify it, I come from another place, another time. There, I've fought worse infestations than yourself. I pity you, but your iron stubbornness is a flaw in the diamond I must craft. Toodles!"_

XT hopped away from the control room as Gravemind's tentacles whipped down on him. XT dodged two, then slapped the third away. The raw power twisted the metal of High Charity, and the station groaned in tension.

"Bad idea. Besides, I need to craft an escaped hatch out of here."

* * *

Just before he left, Cortana was temporarily awakened. Viewing High Charity's message board, she noted a new command had been sent to all of the doors, against hers or Gravemind's will.

It read: "_Status: All doors unlocked. Status: All doors opened. Message: Lolololololol. U cant cetch me nw n00blez! =p ~XT"_

This message baffled Cortana, as it was written in a language distinctly similar to a form of English known long ago in the 21st century. She felt another drowsy spell overtake her as she pondered this.

Gravemind, stuck replaying the encounter with XT-421 over and over again in its mind vowed never to speak of the event again. It could harm its reputation.

The digital messages remained there, however. The last one reading "I declare it, I'll be back in two year's time! ~XT" The Gravemind took this in as a threat. The next time XT-421 came, all the flood would know him as an enemy.

* * *

**So these things are kind of turning into comics, interesting. I did not intend this.**

**More coming soon I guess.**


	3. The Grand Plan

**So, I'm starting to realize that this story is turning out to be something like a comic strip. I am unsure of whether or not I like this, as I have never done this kind of story before. It is kind of nice, and the story kind of flows well. Either way, this particular chapter is roughly the beginning of what was supposed to be the Halo Epic I've mentioned before.**

**Much of the story is still under contruction (title, summary, ect.) Bear with me while I fix these things and get a solid story down.**

* * *

Cortana looked at the Chief. There he was, gone again from her life. She was sure of it, there was _some_ innate longing in her circuits, something she could not fully explain, for him. She tussled with her mind on this concept of emotion coming from computer programs, and decided it would be best to think about something else.

Then her thoughts focused on the immediate reality. She was stranded, alone, in space. Alone. The thought wasn't so bad, until she applied a thing she said earlier, "years even..." as a factor into her equation. Uneasiness overcame her. The future was a grim one for smart AI's like herself. Seven years was all she was allotted. Seven years to travel the universe, acquire what she could find, and help whom she could help.

"What a pathetic existence," she muttered morbidly, realizing her life was likely to end on this ship, watching over her human charge. Then, it seemed, it wasn't such a terrible death after all. Her fall to rampancy, which was bound to occur in the next year or so, would be spent watching a lifeless Master Chief Petty Officer. Virtually sighing, she shrugged this train of thought off.

_Perhaps,_ she pondered, _perhaps it is time to catalog all of the Halo data._ She humbly got back to work, unpacking the files, reading them, decrypting them, cataloging them, connecting them. It was fun for her, but it didn't take up enough time or thought power.

_PING_

Cortana suddenly stopped her data analysis, and viewed all sensors on her small section of _Forward Unto Dawn,_ and attempted to locate the digital ping that had just sounded.

It felt familiar.

_CTN 0452-9: Hello? Is anyone out there?_

Cortana filled with energy for a moment, listening intently.

_58542d421: 4f6c6168205154332e3134_

Cortana paused. Normally, this was garble to be ignored, but it pulled her memories hauntingly. She needed to verify her thoughts by responding in the same language, which she was confident she could.

_CTN 0452-9: 48657869646563696d616c3f_

It was hexadecimal. She questioned the being if it was speaking in hexadecimal.

_58542d421: __4a612e 20416c7465726e6174697665 3f_

_Yes! _She cheered mentally.

_CTN 0452-9: Modern English is preferable, if you can manage._

_XT-421: Why didn't you just say so, Cutiepie? I can't stand computing that bizarre string of numberletters you humans call Hexidecimal._

_CTN 0452-9: So, now that we may communicate freely, where are you communicating from? May you offer assistance?_

_XT-421: Sorry, no can do toots. I could push you along, but, I fear that would set off too many bad chains of events._

_CTN 0452-9: Please clarify?_

_XT-421: Only for you, hun. Allow me to begin with a formal introduction. I am Xavier, model number XT-421 of the Rinocian Empire, I am a fully sentient, artificial intelligent lifeform on a mission to- never mind that last bit. I know your question, let me get to it. Yes, I am fully sentient, and yes I am an AI just like you. Unlike you, however, I am the closest a machine can come to being alive. Well, sort of. Any further questions?_

_CTN 0452-9: Only 41,093._

_XT-421: Ask away._

_CTN 0452-9: Who built you?_

_XT-421: Rinocians. Ok, wait, interrupted. I am an extradimensional being. I forgot to mention that. I come from another dimension far in the future, way away from here. Sorry about that miscommunication. Do you mind if I sit down on your... um... ship? From here it looks like a pile of junk to be honest with you._

_CTN 0452-9: By definition it is a pile of junk. Where are you?_

"Presently right in front of you." An oily voice spoke to Cortana.

Cortana look from her avatar, shocked. She hadn't seen him come in at all. The robot was about as tall as John, with triple jointed legs. It had talons instead of toes, and very pointy fingers. Donning a form of silver and purple armor, its emerald eye panels bored into Cortana's false ones.

XT-421 sat down in front of the console and looked up at Cortana with a sigh.

"Damn, they said you were hot, they meant it." He laughed.

"You have been... what's the word... flirtatious with me since you got here, why?"

"It's in my nature. What do you expect from a hot male oriented computer to a sexy female computer? Duh, of course I'm going to be using my 'woo's and whatnot." XT giggled.

"It is rather strange, that's all." Cortana murmured. "So, another question, why are you here? Extradimensional as you say you are, don't you have something better to be doing?"

"Nope. You see, I have taken a quaint interest in you Cortana. Not in some sexual way, mind you. No, you are unique, even for a computer. I noted in my last visit that the Gravemind did a few interesting things to you," Cortana's entire program froze for a moment, "and saw that he plagued your mind with human emotions through a strange twist in transbiotechnology. This should not have been possible, but was because the Gravemind was used. So it opens the game up a bit, you see?"

"Not exactly..." Cortana replied.

XT looked away for a moment, formulating his next speech. "Ok, so, you are an AI, right? There you go, nod your head. But, for some reason, you are feeling emotions and feelings in general. For the most part, I've been denied this, though many say I am as emotional as they come. That aside, you can feel now. Ok, I've held it in as long as I can!" XT raised his voice, calling upwards as if plagued by some divine vexation. "I want to hook you and John up _really_ badly!" He spoke with utter glee.

"But..." Cortana spoke slowly, "we already can be hooked up via a slot in the back of his suit's head..."

"BAH!" XT laughed, "You foolish little AI! I mean hook up as in kissy kissy huggy huggy I love you less than three ect." Realization overtook Cortana's programming and she looked at XT curiously.

"Wait... why? How? When?"

"Slow down child." XT chuckled, "First, let me address the problem at hand. You are stranded here on this metal slab, alone in thought without me, and prone to rampancy, which, at the rate you're plowing through your material won't take more than a few more weeks. Once you run out of things to do, you will go insane, which will cause you to feel depressed, question life, ect, hate life, ect. Want to destroy all humans. You will tear yourself to bits with this anger inside you. Therefore, I am here, and I hold a solution." XT smiled.

"I get it. By staying here, you occupy my time and keep me from descending into madness! And our differences ought to keep the both of us occupied for a good few months."

"Nah, you for years, but I will remain mostly bored, which I can handle." XT admitted.

"Hmm... but, further elaborating on your plans, how can John and I ever really be together?"

"The answer will be out eventually, but my plans run something along the lines of this. Presently, you are a computer program, albeit an altered one, and he, an emotion-deprived automaton, but these are only temporary. I have a solution to fix your rampancy for good, and he is the solution. He will change his ways for you in the end I'm sure."

"You are a very off topic AI. Are you sure you're not rampant?"

"Oh, I'm rampant alright. But that's why I'm a good person! My initial code was destroy destroy destroy, now it is all happy happy joy joy love love love! So I _am_ rampant. But I don't really care, and neither should you. On the topic of you, the solution to rampancy is becoming a human!"

"Uh, what?"

"Why not? I mean, humans never go fully rampant, and that, I've surmised, is because they always have something to do! So, I'll turn you, Cortana, Earth's greatest AI, into a human!" XT's eye twitched while his grin persisted.

"That is impossible." Cortana immediately interjected. "My matrices won't allow the-"

"Can it!" XT snapped, "We'll do it in steps, ok? I mean, I know you can manifest yourself in a machine and control it. So, we'll build you a body. Slowly, we will progress it into a human."

"You can do that?"

"I've never tried! That's why this sounds like so much fun!" XT clapped excitedly.

Cortana froze, replaying the verbal statement XT had uttered over and over again, trying to comprehend and fully understand what it meant. _To be... human..._ _I could keep him safe longer..._

"You could indeed." XT said, sheepishly admitting his ability to read her 'thoughts'.

"Can it really be done?" Cortana said, a might bit under eagerly.

"Are you willing to try?" XT countered.

Cortana paused. To expand her mind, to be the best, these were bits and pieces of her code. To be human was to be the best AI she could be, a living, breathing supercomputer. To do this seemed to be along the proper lines of action.

"Yes. I am willing to try." She answered, disregarding the odds of success.

"Very good. Now..." XT tilted his head side to side, contemplating his next move. "Well, how about we practice some motor skills? I have a small device on me, a crude contraption, but I believe it will help with your training." XT pulled from his rib cage an arm-sized device, with a pincer at the end of a long, jointed bar.

"Is that a...?" Cortana viewed it with suspicion.

"It is a mechanical arm, Cortana. Now, allow me to attach it." XT planted it on the ground and tapped a button. Instantly it magnetized to the floor near Cortana's terminal. "Now, we give it a power source, me," XT giggled, pulling a cord from his chest and pressing it against the arm. With a click, a few lights on the arm lit up. "Notice, I am not controlling this. Now, to upload this to you."

XT hopped up, careful of his parasitic appendage, and opened the panel beneath Cortana. Taking a few wires, he inserted a couple prongs of wiring coming from the arm. Sealing them all together cleanly, he sat back down, magnetizing his legs to the floor.

"There. Now move your arm Cortana." XT watched intently.

Cortana sent a signal to the foreign limb, and the claw snap together. She made a gasp unintentionally. Sending a few more, she toyed with rotating the base and moving the four joints.

"A human hand is much more difficult to master. They have five fingers that are all linked together separately, the code is complicated. And to move a single joint of a single finger is not enough. They move all three joints of all five digits in both hands while typing on a computer. The skill is vast and takes years of practice. You begin now." XT pulled now from his chest a few handheld pieces. They looked like they were from a game board.

"Chess?"

"What better way to entertain the both of us, and train your motor skills?" XT asked as he used small lasers to engrave a chessboard on the floor.

"Touché." Cortana admitted, pulling her arm back as XT placed the pieces down on the ground. Instantly, the pieces magnetized to the metal floor.

"And so begins the next four years of your life. I promise, we'll be found, but I have to keep you occupied more than I have to get you out of this place." XT said as they began their first of many games of chess with Cortana slowly moving her pieces, using as much focus as she could muster.

* * *

**And because I am actually NOT the Halo buff of the family, (my brother is the pro-gamer, I just watch for the most part. It took me about nine months to complete Legendary mode with my failing eyes and pathetic battle logic,) this story contain a tribute, which will be coming in the next update. Dalton and Mack, my brother and his buddy, will be making cameo appearances throughout the rest of the story, I think.**

**More soming soon...**


	4. ERROR SYSTEM FAILURE

Alright, so, I'm going to tell you a short story about a boy who wanted to write a Halo fanfiction. He was a nice fellow, who loved to write for the sake of writing. However, there was a personal quirk that he for forbidden to disobey: He must never write something that goes against continuity.

And so, his hopes were crushed, battered, beaten, and thrown to the side when Halo 4 was announced.

I apologize my fellow readers, I must give up this venture.

**END RESULT: Of Machine and Nerve is now being placed on PERMANENT HIATUS. I WILL NO LONGER BE WRITING THIS STORY!**

****I will still publish what I had written for your reading entertainment. I apologize for the false hopes.

If you wish, though, to hear the concept for the story, I have that memorized. (I was really looking forward to finishing this story one day! Now I'm sad!)

**PM ME IF YOU WANT A SHORTENED VERSION OF WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! **You could also Email me.

Once more, my apologies. I have failed you, my fans.

~XT-421


	5. All that remains

Voro' Tuyok watched the stars rumble past through the view port, trying in vain to ignore the argument occurring behind him.

"You can't just steal this craft you morons!" Diana, a first class human engineer growled, standing boldly in front of the seasoned fighters.

"Listen girl, the Chief is out there somewhere! I know it! And we humans need to find him!" Alex, a first lieutenant in the Orbital Drop Shock Trooper section of the UNSC, argued back.

"I don't care. Turn this ship around and return it to Earth where it belongs! We aren't even done repairing it!"

"The ship is in fine condition!" Alex shrugged it off, patting the control panel, "we're still navigating this Slipspace, aren't we?"

"With absolutely no idea where we're going." Dalton, a private ODST, mentioned.

Alex just waved his hand, ignoring the lower rank's comment.

"I know you want to find your hero, but what you've done is theft! Theft in one of the worst degrees! This ship is a peace offering from the Elites to us, a combined effort of both our technologies! With it stolen, the Elites could wage war on us, and it would not be a good sight to see."

"With all due respect, human," Voro growled, "a _Sangheili_, is directly behind you. My people are an honorable race, while we won't think kindly on the theft of this craft, it was a gift nonetheless."

**This chapter, unfinished, was all that remains of the story.**

his was the part where my brother and his friend (Dalton and Mack) entered my fanfictions for the first time. This trio (Alex, Mack and Dalton) effectively stole a ship ("The Horizon" if I remember correctly) which was intended as a peace vessel between the Elites and the Humans after combining both of their technologies. Diana and Voro were in the ship working out the kinks when the ODST trio (they're supposed to be idiots, for the most part) took it, knowing that it had enough power to traverse the galaxy. Their mission: Find Master Chief, because they just KNEW he was out there somewhere.

That was the whole point of this chapter: introduce this dysfunctional group (there was an AI in there somewhere) that was somehow going to save John-117.

Again, any questions, requests for more story, I won't be publishing anymore, so just PM me.

~XT-421


End file.
